The Influence of “Equally Authentic Texts” in the Establishment of the Type of Equivalence in the Translation of Documents Derived from International Organisations: The United Nations

Abstract

By analyzing textual samples of “equally authentic texts”, we wish to validate the importance that these samples have in a descriptive approach to translation research, and to observe the influence that “equally authentic texts” exercise in the selection of the type of equivalence (formal equivalence – dynamic equivalence, following Nida 1964) employed in the translation of documents derived from international organizations. We will focus on a specific textual genre of the United Nations: the UNCITRAL Model Laws, their source texts in English and their translations into Spanish. We hope to identify a number of translation tendencies that would allow us to establish their positioning regarding the initial norm (adequacy – acceptability) (cf. Toury 1995) as well as to study the influence of factors such as text production and reception in the process. In this way, we will acquire a better knowledge of the translators’ job for international organizations and the intrinsic features of their job.